...It is a long tale...
 | |
| Noldo | |
| Voronwë | |
|---|---|
| | |
| Biographical Information | |
| Other names | Bronwë (S) Aranwion (Q) Abrazân (A) |
| Position | Mariner |
| Location | Nevrast Gondolin |
| Affiliation | House of Fingolfin Tuor |
| Language | Sindarin |
| Birth | After F.A. 1 Nevrast |
| Sailed west | Possibly F.A. 525[note 1][1] Mouths of Sirion |
| Family | |
| Parentage | Aranwë and a kinswoman of Círdan |
| Physical Description | |
| Gender | Male |
| Eye colour | Sea-grey[2] |
| Clothing | Elven-mail with a great cloak[2] |
| Weaponry | Short sword[2] |
| Gallery | Images of Voronwë |
Voronwë Aranwion was a mariner of Gondolin.
History
Voronwë was affiliated with the House of Fingolfin through his father, Aranwë, and to Círdan through his mother, who was one of the Sindar Elves of the Falas.
In F.A. 455, following the breaking of the Siege of Angband, Turgon, the King of Gondolin, sent out a few of his people on a secret errand; they went down to the Mouths of Sirion where they built ships. It accomplished little, however, as the Noldor lacked the art of ship-building, and they were only able to go so far as the Isle of Balar where they established lonely dwellings.[3]
After Turgon learned of the ravaging of the Falas, and of Círdan's relocation of a remnant of his people to the Isle of Balar, he sent further messengers, including Voronwě.[3]
Voronwë delayed on the road, tarrying in Nan-tathren and because of this he was the final one to embark on the last ship that Círdan, at the request of Turgon, had built for them. After sailing for seven years without reaching the lands in the West, his ship attempted to return to Middle-Earth defeated. In a storm within sight of the coast the ship was wrecked and all save him were drowned. By the grace of Ulmo, Voronwë was saved from the wreck and washed ashore in Nevrast, near Vinyamar. He was sitting at its wall when he encountered Tuor and heard his story as the messenger of Ulmo and led him back to Gondolin.[4]
During the Fall of Gondolin he was ordered by Tuor to guard Idril. He escaped the sack.
It is said that he may have left Middle-earth with Tuor and Idril.[1]
Etymology
Voronwë is Quenya for "Steadfast"[5] or "steadfastness".[6]
The Sindarin cognate for Voronwë was Bronwë.[6]
His epithet Aranwion was his patronymic, meaning simply "Son of Aranwë".[7]
Genealogy
Other versions of the legendarium
In The Book of Lost Tales, his Qenya name Voronwë meant "the Faithful", but he was mostly known in Gnomish Bronweg ("the Constant One").[8] As in later works, he is the guide of Tuor, but also the father of Littleheart – a figure that does not recur elsewhere.[9]
According to the earlier and most accounts, he sailed with Eärendel on his voyages, not Tuor.[10]
Notes
- ↑ The Tale of Years of the First Age has an entry under the year 525 that says: "The Unquiet of Ulmo came upon Tuor and he built a ship Ëarámë, and departed into the West with Idril (and Voronwë?) and is heard of in no tale since".
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The War of the Jewels, "Part Three. The Wanderings of Húrin and Other Writings not forming part of the Quenta Silmarillion: V. The Tale of Years", Text D2, entry 525, p. 352
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, "Of Tuor and his Coming to Gondolin"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, "Of Tuor and his Coming to Gondolin"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Index of Names", entry "Voronwë"
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, "Words, Phrases and Passages in Various Tongues in The Lord of the Rings: Eldarin Roots and Stems", in Parma Eldalamberon XVII (edited by Christopher Gilson), p. 189
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, Index, entry "Aranwë"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Book of Lost Tales Part One, Appendix: Names in the Lost Tales – Part I, entry "Bronweg"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Book of Lost Tales Part Two, "III. The Fall of Gondolin", passim
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Shaping of Middle-earth, "III. The Quenta: [Section] 17"